


Stolen Moments

by LadamaB, UnnecessaryEllipsis



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Fantasy kitchen sink, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overwatch - Freeform, Past Torture, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 00:51:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadamaB/pseuds/LadamaB, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnnecessaryEllipsis/pseuds/UnnecessaryEllipsis
Summary: Accompanying chapters toOf Men and Monsters.Behind the scenes looks at the other character's lives within the story and typically written as collaborations between UnnecessaryEllipsis and LadamaB.





	Stolen Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Of Men and Monsters](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14609247) by [UnnecessaryEllipsis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnnecessaryEllipsis/pseuds/UnnecessaryEllipsis). 



> This chapter takes place during the events of Chapter 16 in Of Men and Monsters. If you haven't read that far into OMaM, or haven't read it at all, this may contain spoilers or may not make sense!
> 
> CW: This chapter contains mentions of torture!

He’d wasted too much time arguing with Jesse about his brother and now Max was probably long gone. He sighed as he started roaming the old tunnels, nose wrinkling. It was damp and stuffy inside the corridors, the smell of mildew hanging heavy in the air. The lights were all powered down but with his night vision, he could still see where cobwebs hung from the ceiling. Eugh. The quicker he was out of here, the better.  
  
The problem with the tunnels was that they were a maze. Even agents that had used them for years could get lost, especially in the dark. He’d already gone in a circle, ending up only a few doors down from where he started, managed to find himself in the hangar and… somehow, he’d also ended up nearly in town. Now he was close to the beach if the sound of waves and the smell of salt rather than mildew was any guess. With a frustrated groan, he leaned heavily on the wall. He probably wasn’t even going to find Max. In fact, Max had probably taken that corridor to town and booked a plane to anywhere but here. _'_ _As far as he can get from me as possible.’_

He turned on his heel to head back the way he came, since continuing forward would only lead him out onto the beach. He was tired and frustrated. Why was he even still looking? The hacker was likely long gone by now. This didn’t used to be this hard! He wished Spectre was still active. Spectre had always been more helpful than Athena when Blackwatch functions were involved, but, at the same time all, infinitely _less_ helpful for literally anything else. Especially if he was involved. Fuck it, why not? If the AI didn’t work, then he hadn’t lost anything by trying.  
  
“Spectre?”  
  
Nothing. At least not at first. Then, slowly, lights began to power back on and he hissed as they stung his eyes. Spectre had powered herself up, or maybe she’d just been dormant? Genji wasn’t quite sure.  
  
“Did you need something?”  
  
Genji hadn’t missed the dismissive and annoyed sounding AI, if he was honest, but she had her uses; the fact that Max had originally used soundbites from Moira to design her voice only served to make Spectre more grating--that was partially the point. Max’d designed her to constantly remind people that she _wasn’t_ a person. AI weren’t people, as far as Max cared. “Is Max here?”  
  
“What do you think?” Despite not being ‘a person’, she certainly had people she liked more than others.

“I don’t want to play mind games, Spectre,” Genji snapped, “Is he here and if he is, where is he?”  
  
“Someone piss in your cornflakes this morning?”  
  
“Spectre. Where. is. _Max?”_  
  
“Thick, aren’t you? He’s in his room. Could say _please_ next time.”  
  
“ _Thank you_ , Spectre.”  
  
“ _You’re welcome.”_

 

Genji rolled his eyes and continued on, able to at least read the faded signs that pointed the way to various places now that there were lights on. It looked like the hallway around Max’s room had been cut from Spectre’s power restoration grid, as it was dark, but sure enough, Max’s light was on under his door when Genji reached the room. He sighed as he knocked on the door.

The door slid open and the rooms inside were revealed, clean unlike the rest of the tunnels. The light he’d seen had been from the lamp right beside the doorway--likely placed there just to cast said light--and the rest of the rooms were dark save for the faintest Ghost symbol glowing directly in front of him. Genji almost rolled his eyes again. ' _Always one for dramatics.'_

 

As Genji walked into the room, the door slid shut behind him, locked and the light went out. As his eyes adjusted, the subtler details of the room began to come into view. Settled directly across from the door on a rolling stool lifted from the medical department was Max, looking away from Genji. The ‘floating’ Ghost call sign was his cyber tattoo. Max’d gotten each dot of that tattoo one pixel at at a time; it glowed because it was actually comprised of trackers implanted in the skin.

For every operative that had fallen on Max’s watch, he’d gotten a new one implanted with their callsign. Max carried his burdens on his back, literally. The last time Genji had seen that tattoo, it’d only been half completed. Sometime in the last 7 years, the entire symbol had been finished. It had to be comprised of no less than 400 more lives lost. Just looking at the added dots served as reminder as to why the hacker was so bitter these days. 

 

Genji was slow to advance at first, unsure but then straightened up with a deep breath in. What was there to be worried about? It was just Max and while the hacker might be upset with him, it was still Max. His eyes ran over the tattoo, each dot adding to the sinking feeling in his chest. He glanced around for a seat, and settled in for what he assumed was probably going to be a fight, “I was hoping I'd find you.”

Max reached up and turned on another lamp. This one was strategically placed so that when he turned around to look at Genji, the light would illuminate him from the back and keep his face in the shadow… it also emphasized the cyber eyes that glowed just beneath the fringe of white-blue hair. “Long time no see.”

Genji nodded, settling back after realizing he had been leaning forward. “Yeah, it's been a really long time.” He shifted a little, about to ask how Max had been and then deciding better of it. If what he'd heard on the plane was any indication, that was a can of worms that was going to explode upon opening. Then again, he wasn't sure if there were any cans that hadn't been stuffed full of, at the very least, firecrackers. He might as well just face it head-on. It was just Max.  He offered the hacker a smile but found himself tripping over words internally. ‘How have you been’ got shot down with a quick reminder from an internal voice that the UN had put Max through hell, ‘I missed you’ seemed empty, even if he had missed Max… Honestly, Genji wasn't sure that there was anything he _could_ just say. Then again, if he was going to face this head-on, might as well just be out with it.

“I… know you haven't had it easy since everything fell apart…” His mind went blank, suddenly losing the words to nervousness. A misstep might cause more damage than he'd already caused. What would Master Zenyatta do? Offer to make it right? Well yeah, but there would be _more_ than that, but _what?_ He should have called his Master first.

Max smirked, visible by the way his eyes changed shape around the glowing irises, and his lips parted to pointed white teeth. “Gee, you think?” He asked while crossing his feet and reached out for the shirt he had shucked off so the tattoo might be visible. “What was yer first clue?” He seemed to pause, snorting through his nose and then shook his head, “Don't answer that. How was yer vacation to Nepal? Meet better friends there?”

 

Genji sighed, opening his mouth and then closing it. Well, can opened. At least for now it seemed to be firecrackers, or maybe just sparklers. He ran a hand through his hair, “I'm not sure I'd call it a vacation, but I'd like to think I learned something. Not that I don't still have more to learn but--” he rubbed at a smudge on his leg, “I'd like to think I've learned to control my temper better. I managed to talk to my brother without punching him when he was being an asshole…” He rubbed his shoulder, fidgeting nervously, “But I didn't come here to talk to you about me.” Honestly, he wasn't sure what exactly he came to talk to Max about. He knew he'd fucked up and that Max was angry at him but for all he'd learned with Zenyatta, he was still so very lost without him.

“Then _why_ is youse here?” Max’s voice came through clenched teeth as he finished pulling on the shirt and turned, hugging himself in a sort of hunched over position with his back to Genji. “You found me, ta-fucking-da. Now what do ya want?” In many ways, he resembled an injured animal. Max used to be too proud for this. “Why dontcha go back to yer new friends with yer new _control_ and tell them all about how nothing was the way you thought it would be? You don't ever want me around less you _need_ me fer something.”

Genji ran another hand through his hair, hissing when strands caught on his fingers. He knew Max was just lashing out. He had too, when Hanzo had nearly killed him. His closest friend and confidant suddenly turning against him. “I--” He took a deep breath, “I'm not sure all of them yet, honestly. I know I messed up Max, believe me I do. I didn't know back then what was going on, and it's hard to fix something like that…” He leaned on his arm, looking away from the hacker as he pulled his legs up into the chair. “And that's not true, it's never been true. Yes, I called and asked for a lot and knowing what I know now, I understand why you're angry, but I didn't know at the time. I know that falls on me, but I couldn't have known I'd ever need my comm again, Max.”

“Mm, it's always been true, Genji. _Always._ You only ever called me when you couldn't get Jesse, or Gabe, or someone else to jump. That's when you called me, when I could _do_ something for youse.” Max turned around and snapped his fingers, bringing the lights up in the room in an instant as he stood up and headed toward his mini-fridge for a drink.  As the lights came up, Max’s rooms were revealed and it became quickly obvious that these rooms were well lived in. Max had been here for a very long time--if he had ever left to begin with! To think, Genji had been looking for him and he had been under Winston’s nose the entire time. “‘I couldn’t have known I'd ever need my comm again’,” He mocked, shutting the door to the fridge a bit harder than really necessary, “Did you ever think about the fact that _we_ might need to get a hold of _you?_ Or did that stink too much like responsibility? Youse ain't used to that plebian shit, huh?”

Genji conceded the point, at least the first one. He had asked for a lot in the time he'd known Max, but he honestly liked having Max around. Max was his closest friend, at least, Genji thought of him that way. Not even Jesse could compare and he had leaned on Jesse for support a lot. If he had really only kept Max around because he was useful, he probably wouldn't be here to try and talk things over. He wouldn't have cared or at least, the old him wouldn't have. The hacker had a point, though. Genji's gaze shifted down as he fidgeted again. He had been a spoiled, selfish brat because he'd never known consequence. Someone always bailed him out because he was the youngest son. While Hanzo was trained and disciplined as soon as he started school, Genji had gotten away with so much. He knew how to be charismatic, but not how to be a real friend. 

He knew he had a lot to answer for, but he was trying to make himself better. He wanted to be a better person. “I-- yeah. You're right. I asked for a lot, and I didn't really give a lot in return. I was selfish and I… I'm not proud of who I was Max. I wasn't a good friend, and I'm still learning to be better than that.” Genji shifted his weight again and took another deep breath. “ I wasn't thinking at all when I left, and that's something I have to deal with. I know it is. I just wanted out of Blackwatch and I made a lot of impulse decisions that bit me in the ass later. Decisions that are still biting me in the ass.”

Max looked up from where he was pouring milk into a cup and deciding to put it in the microwave so he could mix powder in for hot cocoa. “We all wanted outta Blackwatch.” He stated, crossing his arms as he waited for the microwave to finish. “I wanted to leave too, there at th’ end.” The microwave punctuated his words with a beep and the mug was sat down with such force that a bit of the milk sloshed out of it. Max turned around so he could shove the sleeves of his long shirt up to his elbows and show Genji the scars that circled each wrist. Those were new. “Do you know what finally broke me, Genji? It wasn't th’ electric torture. It wasn't being dunked inta a tub till I blacked out. It wasn't even when Capo told me he could _never_ love the monster I had become. Nah, what finally broke me was the moment I realized that _you,”_ He thrust an accusing pointer finger at the cyborg in the chair as his lips trembled up into a grimace, “--were _never coming for me.”_

Genji shifted again uncomfortably, worrying the seam of his pajama shirt, but ultimately, didn't change the subject even though he didn't want to talk about this at all. Acknowledging his failures after growing up the way he did wasn’t an easy task. Consequences never affected him. He messed something up and Hanzo or his father would fix it and nothing ever touched him. Until it did. This wasn’t just a failure that resulted in some hurt feelings. He had walked away to become a better person and left Max to die. Some kind of ‘better person’ he was. He took a breath and closed his eyes because once again, he was lost. He had learned some things but not enough to handle a situation like this. At least not like Master Zenyatta would. He would know exactly what to say, what to ask, but Genji didn't. Not yet.

He had left too soon. All because he thought he might be of more use here but right now, it felt like he had learned nothing. Okay, maybe his temper was better, and he didn’t hate himself for being a cyborg. He wasn’t ‘throwing a fit’ as Jesse would put it. No tantrums. No shifting blame. He was _trying_ to own up to an enormous fuck up but there was only so far that apologies and taking the blame went when you had left your friend and blood brother for dead. Trying only went so far. He wasn't sure there were any words he could say to express to Max how sorry he was, but he bowed, bending as low as he could in the chair with his arms against his thighs, and he apologized. Not because he thought it would fix anything, but because he was truly ashamed for letting Max suffer through that. Especially alone.

“You're _sorry?”_ Max asked, voice escalating as he stood there with his hands hanging limply at his sides. “I-- You--” The hacker swallowed harshly, his voice thicker than he would have liked as he let it lower to a tone of indignation. “You don't have the _right.”_ He put both hands out and spread the fingers wide, as if those hands were enough to shield him from the full brunt of Genji’s apologies-- as if those apologies were weapons rather than words. “You don't get the _right_ to be sorry because you haven't _earned_ that right. Youse was out gallivanting around _free as a muthafuckin’ bird_ while I was strapped to a goddamn chair for three weeks-- What gives you the _right!?”_ The hacker stepped forward and once again shoved a pointer finger at Genji, shoving his enraged face into the cyborg’s space. “Don't give me that sad, sorry _bullshit._ Bein’ sorry like it'll somehow make me give a damn about your problems comes from all the years it actually did. Youse ain't got that privilege anymore. Take your rich boy attitude and your rich boy entitlement and go back to Nepal!”

 

Genji frowned as Max lashed out. Being upset and sorry was a right now?! How dare he-- No. He took a deep breath, shaking the prickles of irritation away and opened his eyes, “That apology wasn't for _my problems_ , Max. I'm apologizing because I recognize my own failures to you as a friend. I'm apologizing because _I hurt you_. I'm apologizing because it's the only thing I have left right now. I can't change what happened, but I can feel remorse for it.” His tone had lost the quiet level calmness, but it was a far cry from the person he had been. Once upon a time, this would have already been a shouting match. “I won't go back to Nepal because I'm needed here.” He met the hacker's eyes, “Going to Nepal would solve nothing. I'm not running away this time.” No, this time he was going to bring Master Zenyatta to him and he was going to learn to be less or a spoiled brat. "I can't learn to be a better person in Nepal because there's nothing left for me in Nepal. I can't  _help people_ in Nepal."

Max was, very clearly, running out of steam. After all the years he had imagined what he might say to Genji and what he might do to make the Cyborg feel what he had felt… right here in this moment he didn't know what else to say. He'd always had a habit of lashing out in his pain and Genji had always risen to the challenge it presented. Part of him wondered if Genji cared enough to get angry. The part of him currently looking Genji in the eye and trying not to lose his composure knew that wasn't the case. “Whaddaya want from me, Genji? I got nothin’ left to give youse.” He asked in barely a whisper, turning away so Genji wouldn't see him cry. He'd always been the last of them to cry… the time alone had made him weak.

Genji's frown deepened as a sad expression crossed his face. “I didn't come here to ask anything of you, Max.” He hadn't really know why he came at first but now he had figured out it, at least some of it. To make amends, to apologize and try to start making some of his wrongs right. He reached out to put his hand on Max's shoulder. “I just want to make things right, or at the very least... better.

“And how do ya think yer gonna do that?” Max sniffed, turning around and looking up at Genji even as his eyes leaked without his consent. Max hated crying because it fogged over his cyber eyes and made his tear ducts itch. “What? Be a saint while I act stupid ‘n talk outta my ass about shit like permissions ‘n rich boy privilege?” He sniffed, rubbing his eyes roughly to try and get rid of the tears.

Genji's shook his head, “I'm no saint, Max. We both know that. I'm just trying to stop doing what used to hurt people. Honestly, I don't know how to make things better. I know it'll take time but that's all I know. Maybe I was wrong about not coming here to ask you for anything, because I need your help to do that.” He shrugged with an ashamed look, “I know I was a stupid spoiled jackass back then. Maybe I still am, but I know you'll call me out on it. I need you to help me be better when I can't see that I'm wrong.” He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly trying to find words to explain himself. He wanted to help Max the way Master Zenyatta helped him. Well, not the same way. Help him through the pain mostly, not so much with the pacifism… if it could be called that. More like try to talk people down and punch them back if they hit you. It was close enough… right? Instead of finding words though, he just found his brain faltering.

“Ugh,” Max rolled his eyes and sniffed, giving the cyborg a light shove. “You're so fucking sappy ya make my teeth hurt. They teach ya to be so smooth back in Nepal too?” He asked, snorting at him and his ridiculousness. “I can't even with youse.” He laughed, sopping up more tears as they escaped.

“Actually, I learned that from Jesse.” He grinned sheepishly, “Just forgot to use it most of the time. Too busy being an asshole, y'know...” He chuckled a little and held out his arms. “So, what do you say? Help me be a better friend?”

“You're stupid.” Max laughed, turning and accepting the hug. He only came up to Genji’s shoulder but there was a soft portion of cyborg there on the left side so it worked out well enough. “You made me cry and you _didn't_ cry. Who _is_ youse?”

“I am stupid.” He agreed as he nuzzled into the hug. “I don't know, it's totally weird, right? I always cry!” He buried his face in Max's shoulder, “Maybe I got body-snatched or something...”

“Maybe I like this Genji better, ah?” Max joked, not even ashamed of wiping his face on the pajama shirt Genji was wearing. “What’ll I do when I find yer pod?”

“I don’t sleep in a-- Wait, you mean the _other_ pods. Well, I don’t know about what _you’ll_ do but I know I’ll have to kill you obviously. You know too much and might tell someone.” Genji grinned.

“Does that mean I can’t sell it?” Max grinned back, wiping his face with the back of one of the long Gucci sleeves. “You know I like to sell things.”

Genji rolled his eyes, “Yeah. I _know_ . You sold those Kate Spades without even wearing them because they were peach, not _rose._ ”

"They were _salmon_ . Yer colorblind, and they were sinfully ugly. ‘Sides, the only reason I bought ‘em was ‘cuz _you_ said they weren’t so bad."

“They _weren’t_. You just have an undying hate for anything Kate Spade puts her name on.”

Max opened his mouth for a moment before shutting it again and grinning like a cheshire cat. “If It was me, I’d be too ashamed t’ put my name on anythin’ that looked like _that.”_

“Get out, I mean...you’re not wrong, but get out.”

“It’s mah room, asshole!”

Genji cackled and shrugged, “I’ll just pick you up and carry you out. Like take-out but with more curses on my ancestors.”

As much as Max wanted to be upset, he couldn’t find it in himself to hold a grudge against that. Genji’s good mood was infectious and his smile was as attractive as it’d always been. “Alright, ya doof. If yer carryin’ me, I have some requests.” He lifted his arms like a child and gestured to the couch. “Gelato, mostly.”

“Only if I can have some,” Genji countered as he lifted Max with ease and carried him off to the couch.


End file.
